Pages

Monday, December 19, 2011

Title Highlight: A Dictionary of Opera Characters

This online resource has over 2,500 entries related to the opera and opera characters. Although the dictionary says it is one of opera characters, it also gives short synopses of many operas. This can be useful because if one can remember the title of an opera but not the names of the characters, a list of characters and links to their entries is found in the summary of the opera. Each opera listing also has a side bar link list of characters found in the opera.

The character listings describe the roll the character plays in a given opera and what performer was first seen in the role and when s/he first appeared in the role. For characters that appear in more than one opera (such as Faust), the entry lists the different operas the character appears in and the part they play in that opera.

Another useful feature of the online dictionary is the “links for this book” link found on the main entry screen. This list of links will take you to other sites related to opera, its performers, musicians, and other topics related to the world of opera.

Database access is limited to the students, staff, and faculty of Monmouth College.﻿